Writers and editors in the Deseret News sports department voted on the top 10 Utah sports stories for 2002. And the winners are . . .
No. 1 — Utah hosts the 2002 Winter Olympics.
Choosing the top sports story of 2002 was a no-brainer. After decades of bidding, planning and building, the state managed to pull off what has been called the best-managed Winter Olympics ever. Some highlights:
Under tremendous pressure to reform the judging system for figure skating, International Skating Union president Ottavio Cinquanta proposed sweeping changes in scoring and judging. The action was prompted by controversy over pairs figure skating results in which Russians Elena Berezhnaya and Anton Sikharulidze won gold and Canadians Jamie Sale and David Pelletier took silver. A huge public outcry charging vote swapping and collusion led Jacques Rogge to award duplicate gold to the Canadian pair.
If it wasn't U.S. Speedskating's long-track team grabbing headlines during their record-setting race for eight medals in the 2002 Olympics, it was the ice under their blades and the unique building that shook with excitement for two weeks. The United States skated away with eight medals — three gold, one silver and four bronze — more than any American long-track team in history. In the end, long-track speedskaters accounted for almost one-fourth of all U.S. medals.
Not since Eric Heiden won five gold medals in 1980 has American long-track speedskating made such a splash during the Olympics — this time it was six athletes making waves, not just one.
The U.S. Olympic team shattered its previous record for medals in a Winter Olympics, winning 34 medals — more than 2 1/2 times the previous record of 13 achieved in both 1994 and 1998. It came amid such nearly beyond-belief surprises as a recent liver transplant recipient receiving a bronze medal; a U.S. speedskater with mononucleosis not only winning a gold medal but setting a world record; and several skaters, bobsledders and skeleton sliders who had never finished near the top in previous world competitions now winning medals, often gold.
That comes just 14 years after the U.S. Olympic Committee was so embarrassed by the paltry six medals it won in the 1988 Calgary Olympics that it formed a commission led by New York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner to study how to improve competitiveness in winter sports, which eventually helped funnel more USOC money to athlete training.
Two gold medals, one silver and two bronze, including a sweep of the men's halfpipe contest, cast snowboarding or "shredding" into the most positive limelight of its short history. People who didn't know a halfpipe from a drain pipe were raving.
Jill Bakken, a University of Utah student, piloted USA 2 to a gold medal in the Olympic debut of women's bobsled in record-setting fashion. Jean Racine — formerly the world's most famous female bobsledder — was outshined by Bakken and brakeman Vonetta Flowers, a former track and field coach at the University of Alabama-Birmingham, who became the first black athlete from any country to win a winter Olympics gold medal.
Canada's 5-2 Olympic men's hockey victory over the United States didn't just close competition in the 2002 Winter Games, it also capped hockey-crazy Canada's 50-year quest for a gold medal. The Canadian women's hockey team, losers of eight straight to the United States on the pre-Olympic tour, played its best game of the season to beat the U.S. team 3-2 and solidify its long-held status as the best team in the world.
No. 2 — University of Utah fires football coach Ron McBride and hires Urban Meyer.
Utah fired football coach Ron McBride on Nov. 25, two days after the Utes finished with their second losing record in three seasons. McBride coached Utah for 13 seasons and took the Utes to six of their nine bowl games. He won 88 games, second only to Ike Armstrong's 141 from 1925-49. But the Utes had a six-game losing streak this season, though they won their final three games, including a 13-6 victory over state rival BYU, to close the season. But the team's 5-6 record meant the Utes would not be eligible for a bowl. McBride was 88-63 at Utah with a 3-3 record in bowl games after last season's 10-6 win over Southern California in the Las Vegas Bowl.
Utah football fans wanted excitement and offense, and that's what they will get — their own Urban legend. Utah administrators announced the hiring of Urban Meyer as their new football coach on Dec. 12. Meyer, 38, is a fast-rising star after a 17-6 two-year record at Ohio's Bowling Green, where he took a team that was 2-9 in 2000 and had six straight losing seasons to an 8-3 campaign and was named Mid-America Conference coach of the year. It was the nation's biggest turnaround that year.
No. 3 — BYU's Cougar football team finishes sub-.500 for the first time in 30 years.
By avenging past defeats to Syracuse and Hawaii, the Cougars jumped to a 2-0 start, and it looked like they were on their way to another memorable year. Who would have guessed that BYU would go 3-7 the rest of the way and finish 5-7 with its first losing season since 1973? Who would have known the Cougars would miss out on a bowl berth for only the fourth time since 1977? The turning point came on Sept. 14, when BYU visited Nevada. The Cougars, who dropped a 31-28 decision, were never the same again. The Cougars failed to score an offensive touchdown in three games in 2002, including the final two. In two other contests, they managed only one offensive TD.
No. 4 — The Utah Starzz relocate to San Antonio.
The Utah Starzz were reassigned to San Antonio, which recently met the WNBA's 6,000 season-ticket sales quota to qualify. The Starzz had made the WNBA playoffs their final two seasons under coach Candi Harvey, and in August they defeated four-time league-champion Houston to advance to the second round, where they lost to eventual-champion Los Angeles. Utah was 20-12 in its last regular season and 87-99 in its six years in the league. The franchise had lost millions of owner Larry H. Miller's money and had never been in the black.
No. 5 — The Utah Jazz undergo roster changes, and veterans John Stockton and Karl Malone decide to stay another season.
The additions of youngsters Raul Lopez and Curtis Borchardt were an attempt to offset the age of John Stockton, who turned 40 years old last March, and Karl Malone, who turned 39 July 24 and who both decided to stay with the Jazz for the 2002-03 season. Lopez, 22, re-tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his surgically repaired knee while playing this summer for the Spanish national team. A third stress fracture in the same bone of the same foot in less than two years has Borchardt recovering from pin-replacement surgery and sidelined. The Jazz tapped free-agent signee Matt Harpring and signed Nuggets free agent Calbert Cheaney and released Donyell Marshall and Bryon Russell.
No. 6 — Utah Jazz exit NBA playoffs after first round.
"This season, to me, was characterized by a frustration that came from having enough good games that we knew we had it in us," said Jazz owner Larry H. Miller, who watched the Jazz go a disappointing 44-38 in the regular season before exiting after four games of their best-of-five, opening-round postseason series with the top-seeded Sacramento Kings. The Jazz's 2001-02 team never did quite jell. They had 10 different starting units in all, injuries to a lot of key players (including starting shooting guard Bryon Russell, backup point guard John Crotty and Donyell Marshall). They were a mix of young team with two rookie starters, small forward Andrei Kirilenko and center Jarron Collins, and old team featuring 39-year-old Stockton and 38-year-old power forward Karl Malone. That mix of young and old proved to be a mixed blessing.
No. 7 — Utah State University joins the Sun Belt Conference.
On Oct. 18, Utah State University announced it had officially joined the Sun Belt Conference. USU president Kermit L. Hall, athletic director Rance Pugmire and league commissioner Wright Waters made the announcement, and the proclamation drew cheers from boosters and staff members who attended a gathering at the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum. The Aggies will begin their new affiliation with football next fall. All other sports, with the exception of women's gymnastics (which will remain in the Western Gymnastics Conference), begin Sun Belt play in the 2005-06 academic year. Member institutions of the Sun Belt are: Arkansas-Little Rock, Arkansas State, Denver, Florida International, Idaho (football only), Louisiana-Lafayette, Louisiana-Monroe (football only), Middle Tennessee State, New Mexico State, New Orleans, North Texas, South Alabama, Utah State (football in 2003, other sports in 2005), Western Kentucky.
No. 8 — Women's basketball returns to Utah State University.
In a move to make itself more attractive to a football-playing conference and keep itself in compliance with pending NCAA Division I-A requirements, Utah State University announced March 5 that it will reinstate a women's program starting in the 2003-04 academic year. USU was one of just three NCAA Division I member schools — and the only one in the Big West Conference — without a women's basketball program. It had a women's program from the 1972-73 season until 1986-87. It played in post-season games in four years, then was discontinued, along with men's cross country, because of state budget constraints. Women's tennis was added and reportedly saved almost $100,000. Women's soccer was added in 1996, but the Aggies have spent most of the 1990s and into this decade talking about returning to a women's basketball program. Raegan Scott-Pebley, former Mountain View High School All-American and WNBA player for the Utah Starzz and Cleveland Rockers, was chosen to coach the Aggies' resurrected women's basketball program.
No. 9 — Jeff Hornacek's No. 14 is retired.
On Nov. 19, the Utah Jazz retired Jeff Hornacek's jersey and draped his number over the Delta Center rafters. Hornacek played less than half his career for the Jazz, but for many — including himself — Utah was his home team. As an athlete, he was cut from the same cloth as Cal Ripken Jr., Ernie Banks and a handful of other stars. Like them, he will be remembered more for what he was than what he did.
Hornacek worked hard. He was a realist. He had perspective. He could win without gloating and lose without grousing. In an era when players have an "attitude," Hornacek had a "good attitude." In a word, he was mature. The "family man" with the rounder's nickname gave the Jazz a domestic aura. He stroked the side of his face before shooting free throws to acknowledge his family. Who can forget the man's "pro-reading" TV spot with his kids, where Mr. Unflappable screams like a scared rabbit at a ghost story? Who hasn't seen the Hornaceks around town, waiting in line at the movies, buying greeting cards, going to church? Jeff Hornacek meant as much to the Jazz off the court as he did on it. On the court, he will be remembered as a major player in the state's "Golden Era" of basketball. Like the "Lombardi years" in Green Bay and the Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig Yankee teams, the "Stockton to Malone" seasons will forever define the Jazz franchise. And much of the team's legacy can be laid at the feet of the shooting guard with the bad wheels and the Boy Scout grin. On the outside, Hornacek looked every bit the coach's kid he was. On the inside, however, he was an "old soul." He remains so today. He has always chosen substance over style and fundamentals over fun. He always will. Let the young stars give the game wings, Jeff Hornacek gave basketball something even more vital. He gave it gravity.(From a Deseret News editorial)
No. 10 — BYU women's cross country team wins fourth NCAA title.
During a review of the women's cross country championships by NCAA officials Nov. 25, it was discovered that a BYU runner had not been counted correctly. The mistake was resolved and about 20 minutes after the conclusion of the race, the Cougars had claimed their fourth national title in six years. "That shouldn't have happened. Stanford was disappointed. It's unfortunate. I feel bad for them," said BYU coach Patrick Shane, who challenged the results with race officials. BYU ended up on top with 85 points and Stanford was the runner-up with 113 points. Notre Dame finished third with 170. The Cougars were led by junior Michaela Mannova, a native of Kralov, Czech Republic. Mannova finished fifth overall with a time of 19:49.5. Redshirt freshman Kassi Anderson placed seventh overall with a time of 19:56. Shane's teams have now won championships in 1997, 1999, 2001 and 2002. The Cougars finished second in 1998 and 2000. Since 1995, BYU hasn't finished lower than fourth at the NCAA championships.
Also among the top vote-getters, though finishing out of the Top Ten:
Runnin' Utes down No. 1 ranked Alabama in Huntsman Center for school's 1,500th all-time victory: Actually, this big win didn't get a single vote — but only because the vote was taken prior to the Dec. 30 victory. Had the poll been taken after Monday's game, this would likely have been a Top 5 finisher. Utah's 51-49 win was the first-ever over an A.P. No. 1 team by the Utes in the Huntsman Center.
Annie Thurman won the U.S. Women's Public Links Tournament, becoming the third Utah native and first woman to win a U.S. Golf Association event: The 19-year-old from Highland, who attended Lone Peak High School before going to Oklahoma State, joins George Von Elm and Scott Hailes as the only Utahns to win USGA events. Von Elm captured the 1926 U.S. Amateur, while Hailes won the 1995 U.S. Junior Amateur.
Northridge High School wins its third straight 5A football title: Northridge running back Lynwood Johnson rushed for 111 yards and four touchdowns and quarterback Brian Kusuda threw for 172 yards in leading the Knights to the 41-39 victory over Skyline for their third consecutive Class 5A football championship Nov. 22 at Rice-Eccles Stadium.
Compiled from Deseret News reports